Judge overturns jury’s $3.5M verdict in Chicago police shooting case

Associate Judge Elizabeth Budzinski recently reversed the Cook County jury’s decision to award $3.5 million in damages to the estate of 19-year-old Niko Husband, who was allegedly gunned down by members of the Chicago Police Department in Illinois for no reason in July 2011 near 80th Street and Ashland Avenue.

Priscilla Price, Husband’s mother, has already asked her lawyers to appeal to Budzinski to reinstate the Nov. 6, 2015 verdict in favor of Husband and not the city. Judge Budzinski based her decision to reverse the jury’s ruling on their answer to a written question in which they indicated that they believed Officer Proano fear for his life before shooting Husband.

Police said Husband had a weapon on him and tried to resist arrest, necessitating their use of violence on him. Marco Proano, the veteran police officer who was identified as the one who shot three rounds into Husband’s chest at close range, was not only cleared by the city’s police oversight agency, but was also awarded a commendation for valor.

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